The Connexion

Music and language, as they say, have co-evolved and both share certain unique similarities.

I write this while listening to a song, a peppy Bollywood number, that belonged to a movie, which fizzled out before anyone even knew about it. The song has an impression on my mind - and trust me, it can endure time and memory.

I have lot of similar stories on songs and the music composition surrounding it. I say that lyrics, tune, instruments used, singer - all are factors that are attributable to a song's success. Still, irrespective of who sang it, wrote it, composed it, I can like just by listening to it. This contradicts my previous statement, but that is what I call - "Language of Music".

Experts say that same brain structures are involved in processing music and language. Does this suggest that music can play a key role in developing one's linguistic capabilities? Well, I partly agree with this, because I know people who , in spite of stammering, can sing mellifluously. Whoa, another speech therapy - "Music"!!

There is a striking characteristic of a good song or rather a song which I, you or any other human being cherish -- The "feel good" factor. A song, or any part of it like a beat, a word, a stanza, a note or the time when one heard the song initiates a cascade of emotions somewhere, which you realize each time you listen to it. This is probably the most common feeling that most of us have and we express often. Just remember a song which gets you going - getting goose flesh..eh?

So....go ahead enjoy music, relish what kicks you best and hard. "Su Che Su Che" - this is what I am listening to ;o))

It has been quite a while that I was looking for time and space to pen down my picture of Jyoti Basu. For a man whose reign as a Chief Minister (of West Bengal) spanned 23 years, and whose legacy is there for eternity, much has been discussed in media following his sad demise.

Each day, while browsing my newspaper, I find a column or two dedicated to this personality, which brings out his lesser known facts and makes me wonder about the sharpness of this man. Someone had rightly said after he declined PM'ship, "this man is not a king, he is a kingmaker." Even being in power of such a politically volatile state, he was humble and humane till his last breath.

As an aspiring lawyer he was drawn to Marxism very early in his life that proved to be a factor behind his rise in the communist ranks of India. Before Mr. Basu took to bed, he was the most sought after leader in CPI (M) central committee. A veteran in freedom struggle and having seen the early politics of a free India, this man, indeed, was in a perfect situation to take on the mantle of the revolutionary Communist Party of India.

I haven't been a resident of West Bengal, however, the impact that this man had over the people of India, and those of Bengal, in particular, is very strong. Post his death, I am more drawn to the kind of life he led and the control he had over folks.

Farewell to an era and the icon who will reign at the top with his grit and courage forever.

1. Dissatisfaction with a current product
   
2. The Need/Want for a new substitute
   
3. Availability of the substitute
   
4. Market price
   
5. Utility factor of the new substitute
   
6. Post-buying evaluation

Newspapers splashing the recent achievement of Sachin Tendulkar across the world are a testimony to the fact that he is equally celebrated worldwide as he is worshipped in India. Sachin enjoys the distinction of enthralling cricket lovers not only with his immaculate strokeplay, but also with his dignified charm and humility off the field.

What I believe is that the connoisseurs of the game must take the responsibility of placing him in a position where the little master deserves to be, ignoring the emotional cravings that we Indians show for him. Not long ago (2002), very few remember that Kapil Dev was honored as the Wisden Indian cricketer of the century. The feat, well deserved by Kapil, is unique and stands out to be the best all round achievement of a cricketer. The former Indian captain aggregated over 5000 runs and over 400 wickets in tests.

An overdose of applause does come with its baggage of emotional outbursts that we Indians do express time and again. And that is well understood and taken in the right spirit always. But the debate regarding whether Sachin is the greatest cricketing mind will be carried on and on…without the possibility of reaching a consensus. Sir Gary Sobers, Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar, Allan Border (leaving Sir Don apart) and current player Ricky Ponting belong to the same level or very close to it.

Little research will show that there is a lacuna in Sachin’s CV. A triple hundred, scoring centuries in each test innings, 750 test runs in a five-match series, 500 test runs in a three-match series are some of the elements that are missing from his aggregates. These achievements are considered common in the list of greats.

Being a cricket enthusiast myself, I believe that India can again produce someone close to a Gavaskar or a Tendulkar, but producing a great all-rounder like Kapil is next to impossible. There was no hullabaloo of hailing Gavaskar as the greatest when he crossed the hitherto unimaginable milestone of 10,000 test runs and similarly for Kapil when he reached the pinnacle of bowling glory by taking Mark Taylor’s wicket in the 1991–92 home series.

The achievement of Sachin is spectacular, after all not everyday does a batsman cross 12,000 test runs. However, I believe that the instead of going overboard, the media and the so-called experts should treat Sachin in a much more balanced manner, carefully examining his unique achievements.

Banks may very soon rely on your school grades, driving habits, shopping habits and tax payments to appraise your capacity to borrow or absorb a credit. These nontraditional metrics apparently help a lot in judging a borrower’s behavior in the long term, according to industry experts. Risk analysts term these metrics as “responsibility” scores.

How are these scores arrived at? Let us see this example – A person who pays all his utility bills is more likely to follow his exercise regimen in a gym. This accomplishes his objective of weight loss and demonstrates his responsibility. A habit like this ranks him well in his responsibility score.

Nowadays, lenders harvest huge amounts of borrowers’ financial data to assess risks associated with credit, but the need for a broader read and more comprehensive social profile of people is imminent. Industry leaders like SAS are already working towards this by surveying a number of Americans in order to investigate and infer their behavioral patterns in daily life. Lenders may one day take into account lots of nontraditional metrics, such as whether the borrower has a good reputation on eBay or pays cell-phone bills on time before deciding whether to extend credit.

Borrower’s appetite for credit – not for their ability to afford the risks was something banks were glued into till now. However, the credit crunch has pushed analysts to paying more attention to newer risk models that call for more revenue projections from each borrower. In future, the responsibility scores may well earn you admission in a reputed college or employment in the same.

Social statistics would always be subjected to privacy laws and regulations. Even so, analysts are highly skewed towards introducing new risk analysis models. So, do we need to be a little paranoid with the thought of borrowing? Well, I would say…just act responsible!

There is a fundamental shift in communication and consequently in media as our daily mode of talking, writing and speaking has become increasingly dependent on computers. The fact that you are reading this on a computer endorses this change. The same is happening for businesses and enterprises as the news they get from the main stream media and newspapers is moving towards the online world.

The first act of a day for an analyst in an organization like ours is checking email, and opening up a browser. On this browser page, whether it be Yahoo, Google, or another, the news is one of the first things that they read. And slowly, we find our own ways to keep abreast of all the local developments through the Web – be it bookmarking our favorite news sites and subscribing to RSS feeds or alerts and customizing our preferences.

There is a silent but steady shift of viewership from traditional media to online media, blogs, RSS feeds, Newspaper and Television Websites. But still there is significant need of traditional media for certain industry verticals.

News headlines across the Web and print media flashed several announcements from leading news agencies and newspapers including USA Today, Associated Press, Gannett, Los Angeles Times, Star-Ledger, The Washington Post, and even The Wall Street Journal, about newsroom job cuts ranging from 10-20 percent of workforce. The job cuts reflect the huge losses incurred by the print business of these agencies which implies that traditional media is facing stiff competition from online/new media and losing some ground.

Contrary to above, there is interesting development in another communication realm where companies are increasingly investing intellectual capital in developing brand relationships and business-to-business marketing efforts – the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Blogosphere is suddenly turning out to be the most solicited place for corporate brand building. However, this will be a gradual transition, as people and companies have different learning curves for the social media.

Having said all that, I still have a strong feeling that people are tactile creatures, and they like to touch the newspaper and turn the pages, flip them over and eat and sleep on it. The sense of accomplishment that you feel once you have read the entire newspaper is unfathomable. For me, reading a newspaper is a different experience on its own and I have my own reasons for NOT staying away from it. My newspaper has never crashed. I can carry my newspaper or my favorite clipping anywhere while traveling, I do not need a WiFi connectivity or laptop. I don’t have to go through registration/signing in/customizing my newspaper. My newspaper is not made up of toxic un-recyclable material. And my newspaper provides correction updates with explanations, and it is not sneakily applied to the original story after I have read it. These characteristics of a newspaper would certainly reinforce my loyalty towards print media forever.

By Debanjan